“We can no longer view these suicides in the abstract, from a statistical perspective,

and merely lament its prevalence,” AMVETS National Executive Director Joe

Chenelly said.

He cited the spate of suicides that occurred at VA medical Centers in Georgia, Texas, and Florida. He called it a national crisis.

Nineteen suicides occurred on VA campuses from October 2017 to November 2018.

“Many of these suicides appear to be protests of last resort, where healthcare systems, treatment programs, and the underlying cultures of the responsible federal agencies have failed them,” said Chenelly. “We can no longer accept that ‘20 suicides a day’ is the norm and approach this crisis with passive resignation.”

AMVETS is the nation’s largest and oldest Congressionally-chartered veterans service

organization that is open to and fights for all veterans who served honorably,

including reservists & guardsmen.

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